August - Saguaro Astronomy Club

Saguaro Skies
Saguaro Astronomy
Club, Phoenix, AZ
Volume 39, Issue 8
August 2015
The President’s Corner
It’s that time of year again. Arizonans
who live in the lower valley areas don’t brag
or boast about our fine weather right now. At
least we know relatives won’t be visiting.
Clouds, rains, sweltering temperatures all
mean one thing; the dogs are coming.
August brings us the dog days of summer.
For us astronomers, we recognize this as the
rising of Sirius, the Dog Star, in the pre-dawn
sky. Homer used the siting of “Orion’s Dog”
in the Iliad as a metaphor foretelling the
arrival of Achilles in Troy:
Inside this issue:
* Click Links to jump
This month’s meeting is going to feature
our own SAC members discussing a variety
of topics. I hope as many of you as possible
have contacted Vice-President Tom Polakis to
volunteer. This can be about anything astrorelated; an observing session, astroimages,
new equipment, a trip to some space related
location or a specific technical topic. Don’t
be shy, step up and let’s hear from you.
Michael
mail to:president@saguaroastro.org
Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
On summer nights, star of stars,
Orion's Dog they call it, brightest
Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
And fevers to suffering humanity.
I’m not so sure we see these days with
such a sense of dread anymore, what with
air conditioning. However, during these
languid days it’s often a good time to
prepare for the return of cloud free nights by
taking stock of our telescope equipment,
cleaning lenses, mirrors or eyepieces and
making observing plans. I missed observing
the entire month of July. I only had one scope
out for about two hours in August before a
quickly approaching monsoon, much like
Achilles, blew in on the wind chasing me
back inside the safety of my high walls.
Editor Notes/Events
& Spaceflight Trivia
2
(Rick Rotramel)
Best of the NGC:
3-4
NGC 6520, Open Cluster
in Sagittarius
(SAC Imagers & Observers)
(Compiled by: Rick Rotramel)
Call for Images, Notes 5
& Sketches of NGC 6520
(Rick Rotramel)
SUCH-A-DEAL
6-7
(Four ads)
Bits & Pisces:
Mtg. Minutes/July 10 Speaker 8
(Paul Dickson/Tom Polakis)
Mtg. Minutes/July 31 Speaker 9
(Paul Dickson/Tom Polakis)
25 & 10 Years Ago in SAC
10
(Rick Rotramel)
Photo: Michael Poppre
Website: saguaroastro.org
Follow SAC on Facebook
Quick Calendar
Friday, August 28: SAC General Meeting, 7:30 PM; Speakers, SAC Members;
Topics: Various 10-Minute Presentations; mail to:tpolakis@cox.net to participate.
Friday & Sat, Sept. 11 & 12: Star Party, Fredericksen Meadow, Happy Jack, AZ
SAC Announcements
11
(2nd Annual Flagstaff Star Party)
(Vatican Observatory Lecture)
SAC Remembers:
12
Jeff Hopkins (1940-2015)
SAC Imaging:
13
SAC Officers/Chairs
14
(Howard Anderson & Tom Polakis)
(Meeting Location & Occultation Info)
* Note: Weather Permitting! For directions click on the link: http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/Meadow-Directions.htm
Tuesday, Sept. 22: SAC ATM/Imaging Meeting, 6:30 PM; @ Paul Lind's Shop
Friday, Sept. 25: SAC General Meeting, 7:30 PM; Speaker, TBA; Topic, TBA
Friday & Sat, October 9 & 10: All Arizona Star Party, Hovatter Road Airstrip Site
http://evaconline.org/aasp_2015.htm
SAC Membership Form 15
Header image © JD Maddy
Scorpius setting in the southwest over the
hills near Kartchner Caverns in southern
Arizona.
© Saguaro Astronomy Club, 2015
Saguaro Skies
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August 2015
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Editor Notes
Schedule of Events 2015
Hi Folks,
SAC MEETINGS
Arizona astronomers heard the news on the AZObserving email list that Jeff Hopkins had passed
away on July 28th. A “not so amateur astronomer,”
Jeff worked passionately to do some science by
contributing astronomical data via photometry and
spectroscopy. He wrote several books about it and
helped astronomers on that quest by starting the
Orion Project. It includes a few members here in
Arizona and in this club. See page 12 for more
about him. Farewell, Jeff.
The Best Of The NGC object is NGC 6520, open
cluster in Sagittarius. A fine object to view.
In Bits and Pisces there are two meeting
minutes this month, due to the “blue moon.” SAC
history goes back 25 and 20 years ago in SAC.
Howard Anderson posted a fine movie of the
Persied Meteor shower and Tom Polakis imaged a
great sequence of Venus over several months and
both can be seen in the SAC Imaging page.
August 28, 2015
September 25, 2015
October 23, 2015
November 20, 2015
December 5, Holiday Party
ATM/IMAGING MEETING
NOTE: NEXT MEETING IS:
Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015, 6:30 PM
@ Paul Lind’s workshop, mail to:atmgroup@saguaroastro.org
Outreach
Fall Thunderbird Park Starwatch
Saturday October 17, 2015
Fredericksen Meadow
Star Party
Friday Sept. 11th & Saturday Sept. 12th
http://www.saguaroastro.org/content/Meadow-Directions.htm
Note: Weather Permitting!
Rick Rotramel, Editor
All Arizona Star Party
Friday Oct. 9th & Saturday Oct. 10th
Corrections and Clarifications
In the July 2015 issue, in the SAC Outreach feature
report of the Grand Canyon Star Party, North Rim, page 15,
photo caption of Eric Steinberg, name should be: Eric Hoag.
EVAC Program: Fri: 5:30pm Potluck; Sat: 4:30pm Social Hour,
5:00pm Raffle ($1 per ticket), 5:30pm Chili Dinner ($5)
http://evaconline.org/aasp_2015.htm
Spaceflight Trivia
SAC Announcements
Can you name the mission involved in this
picture below? (See answer on page 5)
2015 SAC DUES
SAC Treasurer Jack Jones, reminds that you
may pay dues for 2015 now. You can mail the
order form in this newsletter or bring your dues
to the next SAC meeting, along with the form.
SAC Membership Form
SAC has a new PO Box:
SAC
P.O. Box 11491
Glendale AZ 85318-1491
Attention:
NASA
Please renew your SAC membership for 2015.
There are about forty 2014 members who have not
paid their dues for the current year.
Thank you!
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August 2015
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Best Of The NGC:
NGC 6520, Open Cluster in Sagittarius
By SAC Imagers, Observers & Sketchers, Compiled by Rick Rotramel
© sagittarius Guide 7.0 with the figure outline based on Johannes Hevelius' Uranographia (1690) astrosurf.com
David Douglass
Continued on next page...
Saguaro Skies
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August 2015
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Best Of The NGC:
NGC 6520, Open Cluster in Sagittarius
By SAC Imagers, Observers & Sketchers, Compiled by Rick Rotramel
SAC Observer: Steve Coe
SAC Observer: Michael Poppre
16" f4.5; Five Mile Meadow, S+T=7, 14mm; A
WOW field of view if there ever was one, the entire
view is about 60% of the field at this magnification.
NGC 6520 pretty bright, pretty large, not rich and
somewhat compressed with 31 stars resolved. The
cluster includes 3 prominent orange members and 2
faint matched pairs.
B86 is the dark "Ink Spot" nebula. It is a dark oval
in a rich Milky Way field of view, there are only 3 stars
involved in the darkness. There is also a bright and
obvious orange star on the side of the Ink Spot that is
away from the star cluster. All in all, a fascinating field.
August 9, 2015, Central Scottsdale, 21:00, Sky
clear with rapidly approaching storm front from South.
Scope: ES102 APO with ES 8.8mm eyepiece for
81x; Transparency average, seeing 4/5; Under these
conditions the only part of the cluster visible were the
fourprominent stars that form a line through the
center. No hope of Barnard 86 and with the clouds
coming on fast (with lightning) I had to "86" the whole
session. So from the city, one is only going to see the
line of stars that denotes the cluster.
SAC Observer: Rick Rotramel
16” f4.4 Newtonian: Pretty bright, fairly large,
rich, about 50 stars, round in the middle, oval on the
outside, near a bright star, pretty!
Steve Coe, 13” f 5.6, 100x
YOUR
OBSERVATION
AJ Crayon, 8” f6, 80x
COULD
SAC Observer: AJ Crayon
In an 8" f6, Newtonian at 80X this cluster is in a
beautiful Milky Way field of faint and unresolved stars.
The cluster is less than 5' in diameter, is irregularly
round, has 5 stars 9th mag, 8 stars 12th mag. The field
has a 7th mag star 20' to the Northwest and dark
nebula B86 to the south. A truly remarkable field.
In a 14.5" f5.2 Dobsonian at 140X there are 15
stars to 10th mag and 10 others to 13th mag. There is
an orange star in the middle of a 3' circle with another
circle to the west containing 8 stars. The dark Nebula
Barnard 86 is just to the west and an orange star on
the other side.
BE
HERE!
Page 5
Saguaro Skies
August 2015
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Call for Images, Notes & Sketches
By Rick Rotramel
For September, the Best of the
NGC will feature NGC 7000, The North
American Nebula in Cygnus.
For submitting images, send your jpg
file as an attachment in an email to the
editor. Same for sketches. Observation
notes are sent in the email text area or
as an attached file.
Email to: r.rotramel@cox.net
For October: NGC 7331, galaxy in
Pegasus.
For November: NGC 7662, planetary
nebula in Andromeda.
Spaceflight Trivia Answer
Chandra X-ray Observatory
Launch date:
Launch site:
Launch vehicle:
Mission length:
23 July 1999
Kennedy Space Center LC-39B, Florida, U.S.
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-93)
planned: 5 years
elapsed: 16 years and counting...
Mass:
4,790 kg (10,560 lb)
Orbit height:
apogee 133,000 km (83,000 mi)
perigee 16,000 km (9,900 mi)
Orbit period:
64.2 hours
Wavelength:
X-ray (0.1 - 10 keV)
Diameter:
1.2 m (3.9 ft)
Collecting area:
0.04 m2 (0.43 sq ft) at 1 keV
Focal length:
10 m (33 ft)
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space
Shuttle Columbia on July 23, 1999, is the most sophisticated X-ray observatory
built to date.
Chandra is designed to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe,
such as the remnants of exploded stars. The two images of the Crab Nebula
supernova remnant and its pulsar shown below illustrate how higher resolution
can reveal important new features.
The Observatory has three major parts: (1) the X-ray telescope, whose mirrors
focus X-rays from celestial objects; (2) the science instruments which record the Xrays so that X-ray images can be produced and analyzed; and (3) the spacecraft,
which provides the environment necessary for the telescope and the instruments
to work.
Chandra's unusual orbit was achieved after deployment by a built-in propulsion
system which boosted the observatory to a high Earth orbit. This orbit, which has
the shape of an ellipse, takes the spacecraft more than a third of the way to the
moon before returning to its closest approach to the Earth of 16,000 kilometers
(9,942 miles). The time to complete an orbit is 64 hours and 18 minutes.
The spacecraft spends 85% of its orbit above the belts of charged particles that
surround the Earth. Uninterrupted observations as long as 55 hours are possible
and the overall percentage of useful observing time is much greater than for the
low Earth orbit of a few hundred kilometers used by most satellites.
Images: NASA/CXC/SAO
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Saguaro Skies
August 2015
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SUCH-A-DEAL
ITEMS FOR SALE
ITEMS FOR SALE
MEADE ETX-90EC 90mm Maksutov Telescope
●
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YOUR
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AD
Includes the following:
#07426 8 x 21mm Erect Image Viewfinder
#07427/#825 8 x 25mm Right Angle Viewfinder
Deluxe Tripod
Eyepieces:
Meade Ultra Wide Angle 6.7mm multi-coated
Meade Super Plossl 26mm LP multi-coated
Meade 2X telenegative multi-coated
Meade remote controller
#880 Table Tripod for Polar Alignment of the
ETX-90EC Astro Telescope
Manual
Compass
Carrying Case
Allen wrenches
Selling on behalf of a friend, Asking $350.00
For all.
Contact Rick Tejera: 623-203-4121
Email: Saguaroastro@cox.net
HERE
1350 S Greenfield Rd #2105
Mesa, AZ 85206
Phone: (480) 779-9262
http://corvus-optics.com/
SUCH-A-DEAL
Ads placed here are free to SAC members. SAC is not responsible for
the quality of the advertised items.
If you wish to place an ad here to sell your telescope or astronomy
related items, contact Rick Rotramel at: r.rotramel@cox.net
Page 7
Saguaro Skies
August 2015
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SUCH-A-DEAL
For Sale – Celestron CG-5 Equatorial Mount: Make Offer
Non-GPS, but motorized. Needs a good home, I need to
reduce my "stuff" as I am nearing retirement. Any fair offer
accepted. I am near Central and Bethany Home road.
Scott McDonald, Phone: 602-466-8521
Email: garseal@gmail.com
******************************
ITEM FOR SALE
●
Celestron UHC/LPR 2” Filter: $45
Call Michael Poppre at 602-319-7029
Email: popps@fastq.com
Celestron UHC/LPR 2” Filter Link:
http://www.celestron.com/astronomy/celestron-uhc-lpr-f
ilter-2-in.html
******************************
For Sale – GSO 8” (200mm) F/4 Mirror Refigured by
Swayze Optical
http://www.lowell.edu/visit.php
Originally this was for a special project but I decided to
move on due to financial issues. This mirror has not been
recoated. The mirror was tested by Paul Lind in SAC and found
to be smooth and is about 1/21 wave RMS. The mirror was
signed and dated by Swayze.
GSO Mirror New Cost – $230
Swayze Optical Refigure Cost – $200
Asking $360 or best offer. Reduced price: $330 or best offer.
Mirror Specs, click on the link below:
http://agenaastro.com/gso-parabolic-primary-telescope-mirror-8-f-4-ad048.html
Contact Jim Waters – SAC
Home – (480) 893-0198
Cell – (602) 291.3508
Email - mailto:james.t.waters@cox.net
******************************
SUCH-A-DEAL
http://www.photoninstrument.com
Welcome to Starizona! In addition to a complete selection
of astronomical products, we offer free online resources
such as our award-winning Guide to CCD Imaging and
more. We also manufacture unique products such as the
HyperStar imaging system. Our staff consists of
experienced observers and astrophotographers who love
to share their knowledge. Please feel free to contact us
for advice or answers to any of your questions.
Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu 10AM-5PM Fri, Sat 10AM-10PM
Closed Sun. Free Viewing Fri and Sat nights!
5757 N. Oracle Rd., Suite 103 · Tucson, Arizona 85704 ·
Ads placed here are free to SAC members. SAC is not responsible for the quality of
the advertised items.
If you wish to place an ad here to sell your telescope or astronomy related items,
contact Rick Rotramel at: r.rotramel@cox.net
The HyperStar-equipped ISERV telescope is now
installed on the ISS!
The HyperStar-equipped Celestron 9.25" telescope (and
its backup) that is now installed on the ISS. The scope
also features a Starizona MicroTouch Autofocuser. With
the Starizona gang: Steve, Scott, Dean, and Donna.
(Steve has since had to move to NY because he was
dressing too much like Scott.)
Call Us: (520) 292-5010
http://starizona.com/acb/index.aspx
dean@starizona.com
Saguaro Skies
August 2015
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Bits & Pisces
Minutes of the July 10, 2015 SAC General Meeting
By SAC Secretary, Paul Dickson
Michael Poppre opened the July 10 meeting at 19:33.
He asked for visitors to introduce themselves and 2,
Tom Curry and John Butler, did so.
There was no treasurer's report and Jack Jones was out
of town,
Steve Dodder introduced himself as the chairman of
the novice group. He saved his report on the Grand
Canyon Star Party, North Rim until later.
Member presentations:
Paul Lind started the member presentations. He had
nothing to report on the ATM group as it's on hiatus for
the summer. He reported on his observing session on
Tuesday and Wednesday, June 16 & 17, at Fredricksen
Meadow. He took 10 images of the Apollo Asteroid
1566 Icarus. The asteroid was discovered in 1949 and
is the 13th near Earth absteroid found. When Paul took
his images it was passing Earth covering 18 degrees of
sky a day. On Wednesday night, Paul took an image of
an open cluster, M6, with a promenent red star.
Tom Polakis had CCD images of early summer galaxies
from his backyard. He also had a followup image of
Gyulbudhagen's [seems to be pronounced gil-be-de-gian] Nebula. It is similar to Hubble's Variable Nebula.
Tom had images he made in 1998 & 2000, & now has
another in 2015. Tom had 3 current images from his
telescope of Pluto. He also showed images of the
Venus/Jupiter conjunction.
Kevin Kozel had images from the Grand Canyon Star
Party, North Rim and of the Venus/Jupiter conjunction.
Steve Dodder reported on the 2015 GCSPNR (Grand
Canyon Star Party North Rim). This was Steve's 8th
year and as the coordinator. The event has rain for the
first couple of days but had a good run of observing. Of
the telescopes that were there, they recorded 10,386
views. Steve also reported a little on the talks that
were presented. Steve gave a presentation on the
solar system that presented the size and on the length
of time it takes light to reach them.
Next year's Grand Canyon Star Party, North Rim is June
4-11, 2016.
As to the Kaibab Lodge part of the GCSPNR, Steve did
not coordinate it, but he heard they had 5 to 6 scopes
each night and about 40 to 50 people each night.
The break started at 20:21 and the meeting resumed
at 20:40.
The speaker for the night was Tom Mozdzen. His topic
was "From an Amateur (with a day job) to an
Astrophysics Grad Student." He left his job at 48 and is
now working towards a PhD to be completed in 12 to
18 months. His thesis topic is "Detecting the Epoch of
Reionization Signature via 21cm Cosmology."
The meeting ended at 21:50.
The July 10th
SAC Meeting Speaker
The July 10, 2015 speaker was:
Tom Mozdzen, amateur astronomer.
Topic: “The speaker for the July 10 meeting will be Tom
Mozdzen, a recognized local amateur astronomer and
astrophysics graduate student at ASU. After a career as a
circuit design engineer with Intel, Tom was inspired during a
SAC meeting in 2010 to pursue an astrophysics degree fulltime. In the first half of his talk, Tom will describe his
observations from his first 4 1/2 years of the
Astrophysics program. The second part of the talk will
describe his involvement with the EDGES (Experiment to
Detect the Global Epoch of Reionization Signature) project.”
Tom Mozdzen
Photo: Susan Trask
Tom Polakis, Vice President
August 2015
Saguaro Skies
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Bits & Pisces
Minutes of the July 31, 2015 SAC “Blue Moon” Meeting
By SAC Secretary, Paul Dickson
It was a rainy afternoon/evening for the "Blue Moon"
meeting. President Michael Poppre opened the
meeting at 19:33. The attendance was light as it was a
rainy night, summer, and the last meeting was only
three weeks ago. We had 2 visitors, Rodney and
Stephanie. Stephanie came with the Michi, the night's
speaker.
Michael had some info on some external events. In
mid-September, the 2nd annual Flagstaff Star Party
will take place on September 17 - 19. Telescope hosts
needed to contact the event by July 15, so it's likely
too late to bring a telescope.
Vatican Observatory Foundation is hosting a lecture on
Saturday, January 23, 2016, from 10 AM to Noon. The
subject is "Water in the Universe - From Icy Moons to
Astrobiology." This will be at the Mt. Claret Retreat
Center, 4633 N 54th St, Phoenix. For more details visit
the website at: http://vofoundation.org. (Note: No info
posted until November 2015, the Editor)
Member presentations:
Chet Schuler had 3 images of Saturn, compared sideby-side, one through a filter. Color (0.2s), B/W with IR
blocked (0.2s), B/W with a methane pass filter (889nm
narrow band (18 nm)) (10s). He also had two images of
Jupiter comparing the color images with the methane
filter, with the images pretty much the same, except
the red spot being white.
Michael Poppre showed some images of globular
clusters in Ophiuchus, Serpens, and Scorpius that he
took from central Scottsdale: M107, M14, M9, M12,
M10, M4 and M5.
Meeting was suspended at 20:01 for the break and
restarted at 20:22.
Our speaker was Michi Bauböck with the topic
"Neutron Stars: Dense Matter, Strong Gravity, and
Rapid Rotation."
Meeting ended 21:38. Even though the rain had
stopped, only 3 of us made it to JBs.
Jack gave the treasurer's report.
Steve Dodder, the chairman of novice group,
introduced himself. He also reminded us that lodging
starts for cabins tomorrow for the Grand Canyon Star
Party - North Rim (June 4-11).
The July 31st
SAC Meeting Speaker
The July 31, 2015 speaker was:
Michi Baubock, University of Arizona.
Topic: “The July 31 speaker will be Michi Baubock, from the
University of Arizona. He will discuss his research efforts on
neutron stars.”
Tom Polakis, Vice President
Michi Baubock
Photo: Susan Trask
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Where we
going today
Mr. Peabody?
© Peabody and Sherman, 'Rocky and Bullwinkle' Pictures
The WABAC Machine!
25 Years Ago in SAC
20 Years Ago in SAC
Minutes of the August Meeting
Club President Bob Gardner opened the meeting
and promptly asked for a Treasurers report from
Adam Sunshine. At the end of the report Adam
reminded members that next years dues and
magazine subscriptions, increases and all, are
renewable beginning in October. The cost for Sky
and Telescope is $24.00; Astronomy, $20.00 and
club, $28.00 per year.
A total of five visitors introduced themselves.
Rick Walker announced a public star party for
September 30th to be held at Thunderbird Park.
More information will be available at the next
meeting.
For Show-n-Tell Pierre Schwaar discussed the
newly discovered comet Hale Bopp and Kodak's
new print film Royal Gold 400 which returns good
results for piggy back photography. He also
discussed preliminary results in testing some
commercially made thin mirrors made of plate
glass - they are not encouraging. An offer was
made to club members to test their mirror — free
of charge.
After the break Vice President Susan Pritchard
announced that there was no scheduled speaker
but that a number of club members had
volunteered to speak. To that end the following
members spoke on indicated topics.
Stan Student renewed his project of showing
slides of the Messier Catalog taken with the CCD
camera. He covered entries from M11 to M51 — a
great slide and great place to stop.
AJ Crayon spoke on keeping warm while observing
— in the winter.
Paul Dickson showed a video of rocket launches;
only one was a real lawn dart.
Tom McGrath showed slides from a observing trip
to Chile.
Steve Coe, finally, showed slides on eye piece
projection photography of the moon and sun.
—A.J. Crayon, SAC Secretary
August 2015
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SAC Announcements
Thursday, September 17 – Saturday, September 19, 2015, Featuring:
Sunset Shadows and Circles 6 – 7:15 pm
Every evening of the three-night Star Party, Brian Skiff of Lowell Observatory will have a “sunset” talk from 6-6:45 p.m., followed
by a night sky orientation until 7:15 p.m. Weather permitting, he will describe the subtle transition from sunset into twilight,
including the Earth-shadow and Belt of Venus in the east, as well as layered pastel colors over the Sun in the west.
Telescope Viewing Nightly 7-10 pm
Every night of the Star Party there will be a chance to look at the beautiful night sky through high power telescopes from 7 to 10
pm. Starting at 8 pm, astronomers will provide a “Meet a Constellation” guided tour, helping you identify the star clusters you are
viewing.
More info: http://www.flagstaffstarparty.org/
* Note: No info on the web site will be posted for this event until November 2015
August 2015
Saguaro Skies
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SAC Remembers:
Jeff Hopkins (1940-2015), Amateur Astronomer
[AZ-Observing] Jeff Hopkins
From: "Al Stiewing" <amst@xxxxxxx>
To: <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2015 19:42:23 -0700
I am sad to report the passing of Jeff Hopkins last Tuesday
after a long battle with cancer.
Jeff was a long time member of SAC and a frequent
contributor at public star parties.
He was also a member of the International Amateur
Professional Photometry (IAPPP), Society for Astronomical
Sciences (SAS), and the Association of
Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO).
Jeff authored five books on Photometry, Spectroscopy, and
Epsilon Aurigae.
His work on Epsilon Aurigae was featured in an S&T article
on "Not so Amateur Astronomy."
Hopkins, Jeffery Lawrence
Jeffrey lost a long battle with cancer on
July 28, 2015. Born on Jan 11, 1940 in
Ilion, NY, he joined the USMC and was
honorably discharged in 1968. He
graduated from Syracuse University. He
worked for General Electric Company for
13 years and Motorola Government
Electronics Department for 10 years. He
has several dozen papers published plus 6
technical books on astronomy and one
family history. He is survived by two
younger sisters and their families; Pamela
Rose and Erin Dunckel. He is also survived
by two children and their families:
Stephanie Ann Schramm and Charlie Ryan
Hopkins. A Celebration of Life Gathering
was held on August 8, 2015 at Haus
Murphy's in Glendale, AZ.
Jeff with C8 and HPO UBV Photon Counting Photometer
in his backyard observatory
Photo: Jeff Hopkins
*
Published in The Arizona Republic on Aug. 16, 2015
Books by Jeff Hopkins
Jeff with granddaughter Leah Hopkins at
the SAC Thunderbird Starwatch,
May 18, 2013
Photo: Susan Trask
Jeff's astro web site:
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
The “Orion Project”:
http://www.hposoft.com/Orion/Orion.html
August 2015
Saguaro Skies
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SAC Imaging:
Howard Anderson & Tom Polakis
Perseid Video
August 12/13, 2015
Howard Anderson
Rancho Hidalgo, New Mexico
“...movie of the Perseid
meteor shower remotely via
an Orion All-Sky camera...The
All-Sky camera only took one
frame per second and I think
it used a 1 second integration
time so you basically see
trails but not moving trails
like in a normal video. I used
HandyAvi and the associated
IPCameraFilter.”
http://www.astroshow.com/Meteors/Perseid2015B
erCam.avi
Venus Image Sequence
May 17 – August 15, 2015
Tom Polakis, Tempe, Arizona
Above:
“Venus is increasing in angular size while its phase is shrinking...Here are
(seven) images taken with a 15-inch scope through a UV filter at a 1-week
interval.”
Right:
“Here are two images of Venus, eight days ago, and yesterday, only hours
away from inferior conjunction. Backlighting of the atmosphere of Venus
results in a crescent whose horns extend (barely) beyond 180 degrees. The
temperature Saturday morning in Tempe while I imaged was 104F, which is
still quite a bit cooler than the temperature on Venus.”
“ES127 (5-inch refractor) with a 2x Barlow for roughly 2000mm of focal length.
...ZWO ASI120MM camera, which raced along at 150 fps for 4000 frames.
I had the software use the best 25% of the frames, which weren't very good in
the typically turbulent daytime seeing.”
Note: Not to same scale as the top sequence
August 2015
Saguaro Skies
Page 14
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2015 SAC Officers and Contacts
Occultation Info
Board Members
President
Michael Poppre (mail to:president@saguaroastro.org)
Vice-President Tom Polakis (mail to:tpolakis@cox.net)
Treasurer
Jack Jones (mail to:treasurer@saguaroastro.org)
Secretary
Paul Dickson (mail to:secretary@saguaroastro.org)
Properties
Kevin Kozel (mail to:kevin.kozel@cox.net)
Wayne Thomas has
asteroid occultation info
for the greater Phoenix
Area:
Non-board Positions
Novice Leader Steve Dodder (mail to:fester00@hotmail.com)
Editor
Rick Rotramel (mail to:r.rotramel@cox.net)
Webmaster
Peter Argenziano (mail to:webmaster@saguaroastro.org)
Public Events
Jack Jones (mail to:publicevents@saguaroastro.org)
ATM Group
Paul Lind (mail to:atmgroup@saguaroastro.org)
Imaging
Al Stiewing (mail to:amst@cox.net)
Deep Sky
AJ Crayon (mail to:acrayon@cox.net)
Gene Lucas has Lunar
Total and Graze
Occultation info:
Mail to:tomwaymas@gmail.com
geneluca@ix.netcom.com
Mail Address
SAC, P.O. Box 11491, Glendale AZ 85318-1491
Meeting Location: Grand Canyon University is
located at 3300 W. Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ We meet
in Fleming Hall, Room 105, 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM
Saguaro Astronomy Club
Saguaro Astronomy Club (SAC), Phoenix,
Arizona, was formed in 1977 to promote
fellowship and the exchange of scientific
information among its members-amateur
astronomers. SAC meets monthly for both
general meetings and star parties, and
regularly conducts and supports public
programs on astronomy. Membership is
open to anyone with these interests.
Saguaro Skies is posted as a pdf file
monthly on the SAC website,
www.saguaroastro.org/content/SACNEWS/newsindex.htm
for browsing or downloading for SAC
members and friends of SAC. A email
announcement of the monthly newsletter
release is included with membership.
Parking: Turn into the campus from Camelback Road at
33rd Ave. and drive straight and stop at the guard
station. Tell the guard you are attending the astronomy
club meeting. Then, turn left past the guard and park.
Direct all membership inquiries to the
SAC Treasurer by using the membership
form found in this newsletter. For editorial
and SUCH-A-DEAL advertising inquiries,
contact the Saguaro Skies Editor.
Contacting This Issue’s Authors
Saguaro Skies Staff
If you wish to write to an author in this month’s issue, complaining
that they don’t know what they are talking about or that they utterly
dazzled you with their wordsmith skills, contact them by sending
your message to the editor of Saguaro Skies, Rick Rotramel, at:
r.rotramel@cox.net
I will then forward your questions, comments or carping to the
author who may (or may not) reply.
Editor: Rick Rotramel
Photographers: Tom Polakis, Rick Rotramel and
Susan Trask
2013-2015 Contributors: Bob Christ, Mike Collins, AJ
Crayon, Paul Dickson, Steve Dodder, Richard
Harshaw, Kevin Kozel, Tom & Jennifer Polakis,
Michael Poppre, Jimmy Ray, Rick Rotramel, SAC
Imagers & Observers, Darrell Spencer & Rick Tejera.
Page 15
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Date:__/__/____
Saguaro Skies
August 2015